"Lad, what is the meaning of this?" whispered Old Thane. "Will you be fine?"

Li patted the old man's back, planting a defensive seed on him as he had done before with the bandits. "I can take care of myself. Follow the adventurers out and get to the farm as soon as you can."

The adventurers stumbled their way out, their movements lagged down by drink and stupor. But even weighed with alcohol, they still formed an orderly queue to stream out the tavern, the less drunk adventurers helping the more incapacitated ones out with stunning efficiency.

Teamwork and unity were probably the most important lessons that adventurers learned, and it really did show.

As the adventurers left, the less drunk ones gave short bows to the duchess while glaring at the man in the golden bodysuit.

"Thank you for all your service to the crown, dear adventurers," said the duchess as she returned the bows with a smile.

When she spied Launcelot, passed out drunk and carried on the backs of his friends, she sighed. "Oh, dear me, Launcelot, what will your mother say to such unbecoming conduct? Alas, I suppose that is youth."

"Adventurers!" said her golden guardian. He crossed his arms and gave all the adventurers an almost laughing smile. It looked the same as the duchess's, just as wide and warm and showing perfect teeth that shone. "I don't know where heroes like me would be without you adventurers to keep the lands within our borders safe. You folk are incredible!"

The adventurers ignored him, some scoffing at him, others rolling their eyes as they left.

"Sunstar, do control your voice. The adventurers are tired after a long night of merriment. I am sure the last they wish to hear is your booming ruckus."

Li took a second look at Sunstar. This was the man that the vampire count had spoken about. The strongest of all heroes whose strength could topple mountains. The man whose powers came from an entirely different world.

He tried to use [Power Sense], but it came up with nothing, not even a profile. It was like he had tried using it on a rock. The count had mentioned that powers related to the game – stats, classes, and magic – came from a mutation, something within the body, and it was very apparent that Sunstar had no such thing.

"It appears the easterner is interested in you, Sunstar," said the duchess. Her smile was warm, wide, and brimmed with an easygoing energy, but her eyes were far sharper, far quicker, paying attention to Li's every movement. "But that is to be expected. You are the savior of humanity, after all. Go, bid him an introduction."

Sunstar floated forwards, his cape of flowing light billowing behind him. He stopped when he was directly in front of Li. He still had a smile on, and though it was hard to tell because his eyes were solid dots of light, Li could tell the hero was analyzing him.

Li stood from his chair and shoved it behind him. He looked directly into Sunstar's eyes. "Is there a problem?"

Sunstar stared at Li for a few seconds, and for the faintest of seconds, it seemed his smile wavered, but he laughed. "Not at all, good sir! I am Sunstar, the might of humanity, incarnation of Helius upon this desperate world, slayer of the Burning One, and keeper of the Light. Though, I am sure you've heard of me?"

"Your name, maybe. Anything else? No."

Sunstar laughed again. "Of course. It is difficult to pay attention to heroics when you are busy adjusting to a foreign land."

"Nope, I just didn't care to know." Li shrugged.

Sunstar kept his smile, and Li narrowed his eyes. Either the man was just that good of a person, or he was good at regulating his emotions. "Why are you here?"

Sunstar pointed to himself with a black-gloved hand. "Me? Oh, I have no business with you, easterner. It is the duchess that wishes audience with you. I am only here to ensure her safety, and rest assured, that is not because I suspect you of danger, it is an hour to hour job, you see."

Li waved the hero away. "I understand."

Sunstar nodded, his smile still the same as ever, and floated backwards, allowing the duchess to come forward. She didn't care about stepping on the spilled alcohol and mess on the floor, Li noticed. She took a wooden chair and dragged it in front of Li, but before she sat, she motioned to the barkeep behind them.

"Barkeep! Be a dear and leave, would you? And lock the living quarters upstairs. I wouldn't want anyone to eavesdrop on royal matters. And don't fret – you will be handsomely paid for the lost business."

The barkeep nodded, moving fast as he rushed his wide body up the stairs, disappearing with a loud thunk as he closed and locked the doors to the inn behind him.

"Ah, there we go," said the duchess as she sat in the chair, stretching her arms out.

"I see you didn't want to be spotted." said Li, eyeing the duchess's clothes. Very common and plain. Long, roughshod robes over woolen shirt and leather trousers.

"Oh, a keen eye you have, but not quite." She motioned to Sunstar. "He flew me here, so there was no chance for prying eyes to spot me. These clothes are simply the most comfortable for flights. It gets awfully cold up high, I've noticed."

"I see." Li glanced between the duchess and Sunstar. They evidently had worked together many times before. It meant that the hero was highly likely a state apparatus, directly beholden to the crown. That indicated that his power likely wasn't enough to topple the world order, but then again, Li could never be sure about that either. "Now what's your business with me? I'm just a simple farmer."

"Now, don't be so humble. You're a stunning herbalist, too, aren't you? You studied from the esteemed Aine whose treatise on mythic herb formulation still holds sway even in the capitol. Look at how the adventurers rave over you!"

Li cocked his head. "You know an awful lot about me, despite the fact that I'm just a nobody on a farm outside the most peaceful city of Soleil. Meanwhile, you should be on your throne in the capitol, a week's ride away from here. The moment you came here, there would have been an explosion of news, enough to even reach me, someone who doesn't pay much attention. You can understand why I would find this a little odd."

The duchess smiled. "Ah, you are a sharp one, but do not worry. Sunstar was so very quick in flying me here, I say that the court knows not that I am even gone! I came to see you, you see, though I do have other business to attend to, so I should say that you are the first to know I am even here. And as for why I know so much about you, well, it was necessary research."

Li crossed his legs. "I see. Then tell why your business needed so much "necessary" research."

He couldn't get a good read on the duchess. Her smile was simply just that – a smile. It did not betray any emotion. It was a wall she had built up over many years of practice, and it was just as effective as the stony faces of soldiers trained to never let their faces show anything even under torture. He would have to talk to her to figure things out.

"I am sure you've heard of it." The duchess sighed, her hands daintily collecting on her lap. "The Contract of the Grasses. It does bear me sadness to enforce it – all those small shops closing – but I must have trusted and overseen herbalists so that the drugs ravaging this glorious duchy may stop."

"I see." Li did not say more, waiting for the duchess to speak.

"I have done my research and heard much of your expertise, and I am here to bestow the contract upon you."

Sunstar clapped behind the duchess. "Congratulations, easterner!"

"What does that mean? Do you want me to go into your servitude, bend to your every whim and will? Because I am never signing anything, and if you want to give that contract to someone else, then go ahead. But I won't stop what I'm doing."

The duchess put her hand to her lip, startled at Li's words. "Oh, nothing of the sort. My, the contract is simply a guarantee of the crown's support. A recognition of your excellence, if you will. I will supply you everything you need. Seeds of the finest variant and the royal construction brigade to fashion equipment and workplaces of the highest caliber."

"And in return?"

"Nothing. As I have said, this is an ode to your superb skill."

Li stared at the duchess, but all she had on was her impenetrable smile. "This is nonsense. There's no reason for you to give me so much without expecting something from me."

The duchess squirmed in her seat a little, and her smile let down for a second. "Oh, you are a hard sell, you are. Well fine, I do wish a small favor from you. You see, my knights have forayed into the north and found miracle seeds among the beastmen. They are exceptional, bearing crop within days. It explains why the north has never had a shortage of food."

She withdrew a leather pouch from under her robes. It fit neatly in her palm and she placed it in front of Li. "I want you to plant them in your farm, see how they grow and how they harvest."

Li did not look at the seeds. "That still doesn't tell me why it helps you."

"Oh, it would not do for the good people of Soleil to know that we are using seeds from accursed beastmen. Imagine the scandal! But you, a human and yet just foreign enough that all the properties of the seed can be attributed to your strange origin – well, none would complain about that."

When the duchess saw that Li still did not take the seeds, she clasped her hands together and said, "Please do take them, it would not do for my conscience to know that the people of Soleil starve when I had the power to save them."

"I'll consider it," said Li. He was still suspicious. The duchess overflowed with generosity, but he could tell that she was not naïve. However, if the duchess was speaking truth, then this was a way to improve the farm immensely.

No more would he have to wait an entire year for the wheat to regrow. Instead, he just had to wait a few days, and when he further learned how to read the flow of life, he could replicate these supposed miracle seeds at will.

He could work at the farm forever and always, growing and harvesting to his heart's content with few moments of downtime in between.

"But I need a guarantee that you will never encroach on my freedoms. I do what I want when I want. What I grow goes where I want it to go."

The duchess clapped her hands together, her eyes beaming. "Certainly! A royal contract will be sent to your residence in the morrow, and if any of the terms are not to your satisfaction, then do feel free to tear it up - we will send you another to your satisfaction. Thank you so very much for aiding the people of Soleil, your actions today shall not be forgotten."

"Wait." Li opened the seed pouch. When he looked at them, he realized he did not recognize them. They were not regular seeds nor were they from Elden World. They were something entirely new, a deviation native only to this world, and that piqued his interest. He would further inspect them closer later.

"I'll give you enough respect to take these seeds because you are asking a favor of me despite your position, but I'm finding you have the wrong impression of what I want. There will be no official and royal contract, nothing to draw attention to the farm. I want you to leave the farm alone. Do not involve it in politics. Do not tie it with your crown. Do not send a legion of builders and do not pour out a mountain of coin over it."

"Oh, then how shall I enforce the Contract of the Grasses, then? The other cardinal cities will wonder why Riviera has no royal herbalist."

"That's your problem." Li shrugged. "But I would advise you not do anything that gets in the way of my farm."